Durban makes headway with conversion of Point berths

Terry Hutson ALTHOUGH THERE is little tangible evidence, work on converting the Point into deepwater berths for general cargo handling is almost half complete. The progress will soon become obvious however, when the first of 52 giant concrete caissons are floated across the bay and submerged onsite. The caissons form the first phase for the construction of a 1 400m long quay wall that will provide deepwater berths in the Point D-G area, as well as large sized modern cargo handling space First step has been to dredge the area to create a trench for the base of the new quay wall, using one barge to profile the required underwater trench and another for laying a stone base into which the 18-metre deep caisson construction will rest, forming the quay wall. Fifty-two of these caissons are currently under construction at a Bayhead site. The massive structures will be lowered into the bay along a slipway and filled with water until they have submerged to a depth of eight metres, leaving 10m visible above the water surface to ensure stability while being towed across the bay to the Point. “These structures will be similar to a retaining wall holding the backfill of millions of cubic metres of sand pumped into the newly reclaimed area,” said a port spokesperson. Once each is placed into position, water will be pumped into the caisson to sink it till it rests on the stone bed, after which sand will follow to displace the water and provide the stability required.